Ever wondered why you can’t just point your smartphone at something you are interested in and let it do its thing—tell you the who, what, why, how much, and how good? They are called “smartphones,” after all. While they are a ways from living up to their names, some folks in the business world are starting to tap into that emerging intelligence..

A few real estate agent in the Long Beach area are tapping into what may prove to a be a quick and easy way to check out a property:

The Quick Response Code. QR codes are small square cubes that look like gray matter and are used to take a piece of information from a transitory media and put it in to your cell phone. QR Codes are being used in 
magazines, on billboards, web pages or even on t-shirts. Once the code is in your cell phone, it may give details about a business, person or place, allowing users to search for nearby locations, giving users a URL, or a coupon.

“I am starting to use them in my marketing,” said Richard Daskam, an agent with Keller Williams Los Alamitos, who represents a large number of properties on the market in Long Beach. “I started noticing them on various advertising material and one of the agents in our office (Allison Van Wig) gave a introductory class on them at a meeting. They are simple to use if the person has a smartphone. They just have to have downloaded the application to their phone, then they scan the QR code and the information is displayed on the screen. It can also be used with the iPad as well as the Android, Nokia and Blackberry systems."

Another Keller Williams agent, Robin Auwerda, added, “I don't see it as replacing flyers or advertising, but it offers another way to get information to the consumer. For example, a code can be placed on business cards, ‘For Sale’ signs, brochures and in print or Internet ads that can be scanned to take the smartphone’s owner directly to the Realtor’s Web site or, to information on a specific featured property.”